Adirondacks

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mauser06
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Adirondacks

Unread postby mauser06 » Sun Dec 10, 2017 6:52 am

Ok guys... my last post inspired further research.


I started looking into the Adirondacks. I like what I'm seeing this far.

About 8 hours driving gets me to the heart of them.

License fees seem reasonable.

Rifle season looks like about 5 weeks starting the last week or so of October.

Looks like I could possibly be looking for bear as well which could be a cool bonus. Gotta read more on that.

Sounds like I could canoe/hike in a long ways and setup camp. Not sure that's something I'd wanna do 100% solo.

Not gunna lie..a cheap hotel or cabin is more for...I enjoy cleaning up and drying my gear out every day.


Anyone hunt the Adirondacks and have any insight for me??

Probably won't be next year. But definitely exploring it as a possibility in the future. Sounds like it's somewhere I need to go hunt!


jman22
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby jman22 » Sun Dec 10, 2017 11:39 am

The Adirondacks are beautiful mauser! Big woods hunting at its best as far as NY goes. I have very limited experience hunting up there but have friends who set up camp about 6 miles" in" every year. They love it. They have taken a few nice bucks, but it's tough. Low deer densities, but amazing scenery and all around great memories. I'll pm you some links I know of that may provide you with some contacts or atleast some great pics aND stories of time spent in the Dacks'
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby mspaci » Mon Dec 11, 2017 4:56 am

Adirondacks are all about the snow, Mike
mauser06
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby mauser06 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:29 am

That was going to be my next question.

When can I expect a couple inches of tracking snow?

When is the best rutting action up there?
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby jman22 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 5:39 am

mauser06 wrote:That was going to be my next question.

When can I expect a couple inches of tracking snow?

When is the best rutting action up there?


You can be on snow in late October up there, but more likely November is your time to find the snow. Season is over by the 1st week of December, except in limited areas where you can hunt into the second week.

Early season can be tough especially if a significant leaf drop hasn't occurred yet.

As mentioned , snow is your best friend up there!
mauser06
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby mauser06 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 6:49 am

Sounds good to me! That works well...I can typically easily get off work the 3rd week of November...the week prior to Thanksgiving and upto Thanksgiving. So that sounds like that'd be a decent time frame. I'm sure it can be hit or miss depending on the year..but like you mentioned, the leaf drop is big too.. especially in big woods and low deer density.
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SamPotter
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby SamPotter » Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:10 am

If there isn't snow, still hunting is my favorite way to hunt the Daks. An extremely effective tactic under noisy conditions is to take 20 steps trying to sound like a deer with either a heel-toe or toe-heel step, so that each step you take sounds like the 2 steps a deer would take to your one. Grunt on your last step and stop. Count to 30 while listening and if you don't hear anything, repeat. Every once in a while you'll hear crunching foot steps coming your way and sometimes the bucks literally come running in.

Because deer are so few and far between in the Adirondacks, the bucks are extremely responsive to anything that sounds like another deer. I've had does come in while I was doing this too. If they see you or smell you first, then the jig is up.

Don't bother to hunt rut sign during the rut there either. The buck that made the rub or scrape you're looking at is likely miles away already and not going to be back any time soon.

Big woods tactics are completely different than farm land tactics.
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brancher147
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby brancher147 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:17 am

I lived and hunted up there for a few years in the Northern Adirondacks. Would love to go back sometime, especially with the knowledge I now have after improving as a hunter. It is big woods hunting at it's best (except for the number of deer lol), and there are so many options, you can hunt mountains, you can hunt swamps, and everything in between. It will take a couple years to find a spot you like probably, but if you can find a good spot it is worth it for sure. There are some big bucks, but not many, and with snow you can find them a lot easier. My biggest racked buck to date I killed up there a couple days after Thanksgiving tracking in the snow. I never saw a bear in 3 years, but they are there also. It may be worth calling someone local with NYSDEC for suggestions, or areas with higher deer densities, especially if after a bad winter with a lot of winter kill. There are plenty of places you can grab a hotel and do day hunts, and there are many places a canoe or kayak would be useful up there (if water is not frozen).

As Sam mentioned, I would plan on still hunting if no snow. Sitting in a treestand up there can be mighty lonesome and unproductive. The first buck I shot up there actually came in to the noise of me still hunting as Sam described (without the grunting). Rut sign can be hit or miss, and the bucks do travel constantly. The big buck I killed was a couple miles from where I got most pictures of him when I killed him.
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mauser06
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby mauser06 » Mon Dec 11, 2017 2:25 pm

That's very interesting.

I hunt lower deer density in Michigan and I've tried a little calling but maybe didn't give it a fair chance. Issue there is the buck to doe ratio is out of whack. Doesn't help. No need to fight and go nuts when there's 10 doe to each buck. My thinking anyways.

I really enjoy still hunting and tracking. I'm far from good at it. But I put myself in deer and killed a few and passed many with those tactics. I just really enjoy it when I have a gun in my hand.


It's hard to explain to different hunters what draws me to such hunts. The solitude..the scenery..the wilderness..the adventure of it. Just something about it. I drive clear across Ohio and through GREAT deer hunting in southern Michigan to get to northern Michigan where there are far less deer.

I'm going to stick with Michigan for the time being. But the Adirondacks are calling my name.

Right now I have a girlfriend that still lives in Michigan. Right now, I make the trip to visit her and hunt while she is at work. Free place to stay... signing papers for a house tomorrow in Pennsylvania. I feel like she's either going to move here...or we will end. If we end, my Michigan Adventures probably end. If she moves here, we can still go see her family and I can hunt. That's why I'm starting to explore other options.
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ghoasthunter
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Re: Adirondacks

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Jan 07, 2018 5:41 am

hunting the dacks is something everybody should try once is epic. that being said if you see one deer in a weak your doing something right. my family has shoot some monsters up their over the years. we used to go in real deep and set up camp for two weeks. where wool and be prepared hunters and hikers die up their every year some are never found Adirondack state park is bigger than Yellowstone. their are deer up their that never see people. they bed on the highest ridges and peaks in pines. hunt high in mornings low in afternoons without snow work all the leeward ridges on the military crests. and if your near swamps get a bear tag but you prob wont see one unless you dont lol
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS


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